ST JJ Abrams to direct Episode VII

Good.

 

I simply disagree. IMHO, he built physical creatures and sets where needed when up against budgetary and/or technical constraints.

Have you read that new interview with Anthony Daniels, the only actor who has appeared in all seven films? He says flat-out that JJ's approach was closer to the older way of doing things:

On the PT:

In contrast:

In fairness, obviously there were walls and sets when filming the PT, too. Both Lucas and JJ used a mix. But it's about overall philosophy: Lucas was minimalist when it came to in-camera effects and sets; JJ is minimalist when it comes to CGI.

 

Adam Savage talks SW and VII.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/mythbusters-adam-savage-star-wars-820714

 

Daniels is probably still miffed that he wasn't in the suit for TPM...

I really wish he hadn't said this stuff. No doubt he got paid well for doing all 3 prequels... and does he also forget he was standing on the original location and sets of ANH for the AOTC Tatooine scenes, and he WAS in the suit then also... It's only ROTS that was 'bleak' in its digital nature and it kind of suited the movie, let's be fair.

 

I don't believe there's anything minimalist about Abrams use of visual effects. We have digital characters (was there anything that nesssitated that?), we have clearly have lots of digital effects/shots... and that's just in the trailers. I certainly think he'll favour more practical, but Abrams isn't a minimalist when it comes to effects.

 

Yeah - Daniels is a bit of a weird egg... as I'm sure anyone who has met him can contest to. I don't doubt his sincerity, but he has wrode the Star Wars dollar for all it's worth. He does come across as a bit self-serving and disingenuous.

 

I've met Daniels. He struck me as someone who's been there almost from Day 1 and has a sense of perspective about it all. My impression is that he's known George for a long time and has the same kind of relationship with him that any two old colleagues do: fondness often mixed with frustration.

I also don't imagine that being a guy in a robot suit is a lucrative gig, so I don't think he has any moral obligation to be a sycophant. He was very measured in his comments, IMHO.

 

What he said was definitely believable and for a fan to doubt what he's saying and claim they know more than a man that has been in every Star Wars is laughable to me.
You don't have to agree with him on CGI VS PRACTICAL but he's not making things up when he says it's returned closer to how it used to be. If someone has been there from the beginning he would know more than one of us.

 

You mean he didn't sign for $10 million, plus points on the back end? No wonder he's so angry!

 

Having met Anthony Daniels I would totally agree with the opinions of him in here. He came across to me as undoubtedly nice and decent, but very, very cynical about Star Wars and somewhat calculated. He really has milked the franchise dry (he has pretty much never had a real role in any other production) and could stand to be a little more grateful for everything as far as I'm concerned.

Having said that, he is of course entitled to his opinion about both George and JJ (regarding JJ, he said that he didn't understand the screenplay for TFA and still doesn't). And he certainly knows what he's talking about. I just wish he didn't feel the need to air his opinions so bluntly in such a negative way. As I say, he is a perfectly nice person but he doesn't seem particularly professional or loyal these days. Just my observations.

 

You have a link for that info? Thx

 

https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/post/128319526671/anthony-daniels-star-wars-secrecy-is-ludicrous

Quote:
On being told the plot, he said: “The screenplay was very good as far as C-3PO was concerned, but I had no idea what was going on in the rest of it. Still don’t.
“When JJ told me the story of the new one, my eyes sort of glazed over.”

I mean, it's not really critical or anything, but I do think it's pretty out of order and unprofessional to make comments like that about a film that hasn't even been released yet.

 

He was on Twitter praising the story of the new film and even suggesting it might be better than ESB. I'm not a native speaker. Is "glazed over" to be understood in a positive or negative way?Thx

 

Glaze over means you lose interest in something or stop paying attention

 

He's probably similar to Ford when it comes to his interest in the genre, and I find it just as puzzling when he's lambasted for not being suitably reverent towards SW as well.

 

That was how I took it - he doesn't really give a **** about the ins and outs of the mythology and he was kind of bored. I think the comments after the read through balance it out, but it's a rare tick in the potentially negative comments column.

 

Surprises me because he was pushing it on Twitter. "And the story.... You can't wait"

 

Well, the glazed over reaction came after the initial meeting with JJ, the tweet came after the full script reading with the cast (mostly) all present and correct. I wouldn't place too much weight on either.

 

What? It's more money than he'd ever earn as a normal jobbing actor. Star Wars has made him a wealthy man (and I'm not talking about his fees for the OT). This is a man who would do 3PO advertising cornflakes if it was offered.

 

Yeah, minus threepio, it's not as if the guy does a lot else. To be fair, if we are going to take positive word as encouragement (however cautiously), we should also factor in any less than enthusiastic comments (without panicking). I remember being very optimistic about Crystal Skull and thinking John Hurt sounded pretty grumpy and dismissive about it, but he wasn't wrong in the end.

 

I don't think John Hurt had a clue what was going on in that film. Many actors, no matter how fine, sometimes do films purely for the $$$ (some more than others). I suspect Hurt's comments were not consciously indicative of the film per se, but indicative of where his head was at when doing a big, daft Hollywood action film.

 

Yeah, that makes sense.

 

Anthony Daniels seems to have caught some of Alec Guiness's attitude. I could easily imagine Alec saying "My eyes glazed over when I heard the story."